


Comfort

by f0rever15elf



Series: 2020 December Writing Challenge [23]
Category: Triple Frontier (2019)
Genre: Angst, Food mention, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Intoxication, Other, Pedro Pascal - Freeform, alcohol mention, dubious consent as both parties are buzzed, non-descript sexual scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:13:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29035236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/f0rever15elf/pseuds/f0rever15elf
Summary: After having your heart shattered, you seek comfort from your best friend Frankie, which leads to a very tense moment come the morning.
Relationships: Francisco "Catfish" Morales & Reader, Francisco "Catfish" Morales/You
Series: 2020 December Writing Challenge [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2127273
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	Comfort

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_

_But the very next day,_

_You gave it away_

With a strangled sob, you kill the radio in your car. It’s late, the roads completely empty as you make your way to the house of the one person who always takes care of you. You hadn’t even called, knowing you don’t need to, and thinking you wouldn’t have been able to hold it together enough to drive if you had. You have a damn key anyways, so even if he’s not home, you could let yourself in and curl up on his couch to escape for at least a little bit.

The lights on in the living room are a welcome sight as you pull into the drive tonight, and before you can even raise your hand to knock, the door is opening for you. He doesn’t ask questions, not right away. He simply pulls you inside, wrapping his arms around you as you tremble in his hold.

He always feels so safe and warm. When you’re in his arms, it’s like nothing can touch you and every worry melts away. And from this comfort, after your drawn out silence, you finally tell him why you’re here on the night after Christmas. “He left me, Frankie.”

Francisco’s blood boils at that, at how small you sound as you cling to him for comfort. The audacity of that man to do something like this to someone as perfect as you. And the day after Christmas, at that.

But Frankie’s anger isn’t important right now. What’s important is taking care of you. And so, he bites back the harsh words that taste so bitter on his tongue in favor of soothing words of comfort as he leads you into his living room.

“Whatever you need, I’m here to get it for you, alright?” He sits you down on his worn out couch, crouching down in front of you as he rests his hands on your knees. Your head is still tilted down, but from his vantage point he can see the tears still pouring from those beautiful eyes of yours, and it makes his heart clench in his chest.

He squeezes your knees comfortingly as he tries to think of what to say to comfort you. He’s no stranger to heartbreak, especially sudden heartbreak, and he’s seen the same pain that is on your face right now reflected back at him from the bathroom mirror too many times. “Hey, how about we order a pizza, have some drinks, and watch that movie that you love, yeah?” You raise your eyes up just enough to catch his, the idea sounding incredibly enticing. So, with a soft nod, you agree. A smile crosses Frankie’s face, and he gently squeezes your knees once more before standing up to go and take care of ordering everything.

One extra large cheese pizza and several beers later, you’re a giggling mess on the couch, leaning up against Frankie as he impersonates the character on screen with striking accuracy. The comfort of your best friend paired with the pleasant hum of alcohol in your system has helped to soothe the burns that had you seeking out the handsome pilot to begin with. It may be temporary for now, but right now temporary is all you need.

Handsome…. He certainly is, and you’ve always thought so, since the day you met him years ago when he was home on leave. A random meeting at a bar while you were out with your friends and he was out with his led to the most incredible friendship you have ever had… and the most painful unrequited love you’ve ever experienced. He had been dating a girl at the time, a girl that would go on to mother his child while he was away fighting his final mission with his Spec Ops team. A girl who he would take as his wife for a very brief time. A girl who would go on to break his heart in innumerable ways, leading him to your own couch in a similar situation as the one you find yourself in at present.

You lose yourself in your thoughts about your best friend, in the thoughts of the feelings and desires that you had worked so hard to move past. He doesn’t see you as anything more than a friend, and that would always be the case, you’re certain of it. But… but what if tonight… what if just for tonight…?

You’re not thinking clearly. You know you’re not, but you can’t find it in yourself to care when Frankie’s warm gaze finds your own. A silence falls over you both, thick with tension and… something else. Something you can’t place. It’s heavy and heady and electrifying and you think that for maybe just a moment that he _does_ see you the way you see him.

Before you can come to your inebriated senses, you lean forward, ghosting your lips across his in the whisper of a kiss before quickly pulling back. His eyes are wide when you look up at him, a look mirrored by you, you’re certain, and for the briefest moment everything is still, as if time itself has frozen. You part your lips to apologize when suddenly his lips are on yours, strong and firm and soft as his hands come to cup your face. Your eyes flutter shut as you drink him in, wrapping your arms around his broad shoulders to pull yourself closer to him. He’s warm, and strong, and comforting, and everything that you could possibly need right now.

You aren’t sure when exactly you make it back to the bedroom, or when your clothes come off. It seems to take forever yet at the same time no time at all. All you can hear, see, smell, and feel is Frankie as everything else washes away in the alpenglow of bliss he provides you. You never want it to end, wishing that this could be how you exist till the end of all things. Lost in everything that is Frankie.

~~~~

The sun peeking through the drapes, painting your face with the morning rays, stirs you from your peaceful slumber. You’re drowsy and your head hurts, but you feel more rested than you have in a long time. And you’re so _warm._ You hum in content as you snuggle closer to this warmth, freezing only when the warmth hums and wraps strong arms around your frame. Reality shatters around you like glass, a cold fear gripping your heart as you realize where you are.

Memories of the previous night slowly come to you and guilt settles like a stone in your stomach. Neither of you were in any shape to consent to what happened last night, and yet you let it happen anyways. Your mind runs away with itself, thoughts that a calmer you would know to be untrue making their way to the forefront of their mind, loud and cacophonous as you feel bile rise in your throat at your own disgust. You’ve taken advantage of your best friend in your own desperate attempt to heal your broken heart. How could you?

Carefully, so as not to disturb the man sleeping next to you, you extract yourself from his hold. He grumbles, rolling over and grabbing the pillow beside him to pull into his arms, and your heart squeezes uncomfortably in your chest at the sight. You need to leave.

You roam the house, looking for your clothes, finding your shirt discarded in the living room. With a sigh, you pull it back on, doing your best to straighten your appearance. Should you… wake him to say goodbye? If you were stronger, perhaps, but not this morning.

Frankie stirs not long after you’ve removed yourself from his hold, and he sits up as he attempts to get his bearings. His own memories of last night flood his thoughts and he feels sick at what he’s done. He should have known better than to do what he did. You’re brokenhearted and last night you were drunk, seeking comfort and safety with him and he took advantage of that. A small voice in the back of his head tells him he’s being silly, that that’s not what happened, but the anxiety at you no longer being next to him mutes any attempt at reason.

In a frenzy, he throws back the covers and pulls on a pair of boxers before making his way to find you, hoping you’re still in the house. And it seems he’s just in time, catching you as you reach for your wallet and keys by the front door. He calls your name softly and you freeze, hand hovering over the wallet. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers, his own guilt lacing his voice with anguish. “Last night shouldn’t have happened.”

Your heart somehow manages to tear further with those words, and you slowly turn to him as the tears brim in your eyes. What were you expecting, him to say he loves you the way you had always loved him?

At the sight of your tears, Frankie crosses the living room, stopping in front of you with a worried frown on his lips. He’s really messed up this time, hasn’t he? “You were drunk and heartbroken and I still thought it was a good idea to kiss you. I took advantage of the situation to get a taste of something I’ve wanted for so long, and I hurt you because of it. I’m so sorry.” He reaches out to gently grip your biceps as you look up at him, the hurt in your eyes turning to confusion. “A good friend doesn’t take advantage of their friends…. I’m sorry, and I hope someday you can forgive me for this, though I understand if you can’t.”

“What are you…- Frankie, I’m the one who took advantage of _you…_. You were drunk and trying to help me feel better, I shouldn’t have kissed you, I shouldn’t have started it. So… why are you the one apologizing?” Frankie’s own face betrays his confusion now, listening to your words. You think… you’re at fault here? “I let my own desires get the better of me last night and I hurt you because of it. It’s… it’s why I was trying to leave without waking you. I couldn’t bear it if you looked at me with a pain that I caused you. I love you too much for that.” Your voice tapers off as you drop your face, looking back down to the ground.

Once more, time seems to stand still as Frankie lets your words soak in. It’s only when he softly calls your name again that you look up, unsure of the emotion that’s lighting his eyes. He squeezes your biceps gently in that reassuring way that he has before taking a deep breath. “Do you think… that I don’t want you? That I don’t… see you that way?”

You wince at the question, not wanting to speak it into reality. But Frankie deserves the truth, and only the truth, and so you nod in confirmation. “You just see me as a friend….”

Frankie lets out a breath, his heart pounding in his chest as he navigates this proverbial mine field. “And you… you see me as… more than that?” The question terrifies him, but he needs to know. To fix whatever this is, he _needs_ to know.

Once again, you nod, hands balling into fists at your sides. “I have… for a long time.” A beat of silence, and the damn finally breaks, tears spilling over. “B-But you were dating _her_. You loved _her_. You married and had a kid with _her_. And I couldn’t tell you how I felt. It was wrong. I couldn’t just tell you the feelings I had harbored for you so I tried to make them go away. I tried to date, and then I found _him_ and I thought it was okay but it was never okay and… and…. Oh, God, I’m so sorry Frankie. Please. Please don’t hate me. Please don’t _leave_ me.” Your words choke off with a sob as Frankie stands there with his jaw on the floor at the confession, his heart aching in his chest.

Slowly, carefully, he pulls you to him, cradling the back of your head as you sob into his chest. He whispers sweet nothings to you in an attempt to calm you down so he could actually talk to you. When your sobs abate to tiny hiccups, he takes the chance. “I’m never leaving you, and I could never hate you,” he murmurs as he sways with you gently. “God… I could never, _ever_ hate you, sweet thing. You’re my best friend in this world and… and I see you… as more than that too. But you were dating _him_ and just like you… I couldn’t intrude on that. What kind of friend would I have been if I had?”

Your own heart speeds up in your chest at the confession and you slowly lift your head to look up at him. “You… you see me as… more?”

He nods, fingers coming up to cup your cheek gently. “I guess our timing had always been off from one another. Just barely out of sync…,” You tilt your head into the gentle touch, seeking his comfort.

“Do you think… we might be in sync now?” Your voice is so tiny, barely a whisper, but it is so full of hope that Frankie’s heart stutters in his chest.

“I think we can try,” he murmurs, his thumb ghosting along your cheekbone. “But, I want to do this right, okay? I want to take you out on dates and romance you in the way you deserve. Romance you in the ways we make fun of on those romcoms we watch together.”

A small grin starts to spread across your face at the thought of Frankie showing up on your doorstep with a bouquet of flowers, flustered and nervous about taking you on a proper date. “I think I would like that,” you whisper, your eyes shining with a beautiful, hopeful light as you smile up at him. His eyes dart down to your lips for just a moment before they find your own gaze again, and you nod.

When his lips press against yours this time, it’s tender and chaste and sweet. It’s perfect, and everything you have ever dreamed of from him. And it’s only the beginning of many, many more. 


End file.
